Today is just one of those days where I can not believe how blessed I am. I keep thanking God over and over in my mind and heart. Seriously, what makes me so special to deserve this life?

I am so THANKFUL for my wonderful husband and amazing kids, I don't think words can even express it. I feel that my life would be so pointless with out my family and without my amazing God who always gives us so much!

I never thought that I would be happy as a stay at home mom. You see I worked full time until I had my son (almost 3 years ago). In order to pay our bills, I had to work full time. My heart broke to leave my daughter avery morning, but I got used to it.

When I thought about being a stay at home mom, I got scared. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to pay our bills and I would be bored.

But after I had my son, I could not find anyone I could trust and rely on to watch my kidos. So we took a big leap of faith and I quit my job. We gave our life into the hands of our Lord, and he has provided! He helped my husband start his own business in order to support us and I discovered that I love being home with my kids.

I start the day off with both kids cuddling with me in bed (seriously! If I am up before they can come cuddle with me, there are tears shed)

I also get to teach my kids. I love homeschooling. This is my first "official" year, but I can not imagine not doing it. Sometime when we are cuddling in bed, we hear the school bus come at 8:45am and then see it drop the kids off at 4pm. I can not imagine being apart from my kids for that long.

There is only one thing I would change, I wish I got to spend more time with my hubby, he has a lot on his hands with his business, But I know he is working so hard so I can stay at home mom and raise our kids.

I thought it would be fun to dump the last 2 weeks photos from my phone into this post so you can see kinda what my life looks like. Sure beats sitting in a cubicle every day ;)

If we ever need to to go the mall, we usually stop by the play area, It is the kid's reward for being on their best behavior:

Hello my beautiful friends, hope you are all having a wonderful Wednesday.
This past week has been super hot and then it finally cooled down and we had some rain. I am actually really looking forward to the cooler weather, I feel that I can create more outfits with the clothes I have when I get to layer up.

Let me tell you what birch box is, just in case you are not familiar with it.

It's a monthly subscription service which is $10.00 a month where you get sent 5-6 high-end samples each month. First you take a little survey so they can find out more about your skin, make up likes and dislikes so they know what to send you.

You know how I love trying out new products? Well, with the birch box, I can try high end products without having to buy full size products. If I love the product, then I can go buy it :)

I have been reading birth stories for the past three days! It made me regret that I never wrote down my babies birth stories, I figured I should do it now, better late then never. Off course, I don't remember every little detail any more, but there are parts I will never forget, I am sure that is how all moms are.

With my second pregnancy, I knew I wanted things to be different with my labor and delivery. I did some research this time around, I knew that this time around, I was going to stay home and labor at home as long as possible. Just because my water broke, did not mean I have to rush to the hospital, especially if I did not have any contractions, like I did with my 1st delivery.

With this pregnancy, I had morning sickness also until up to 13 weeks, however, I did not throw up even once! I was sipping ginger tea with lemon all day long, I believe this is what helped me.

I was tested and re-tested for gestational diabetes. I ate better this time around and was declared borderline. I didn't have to be on a diet. I still watched my diet and didn't indulge in food.

I think I need to start on Sunday December 5th. I was having contractions all day long. They were about 5 minutes apart, and lasted for about a minute. But the thing is, they were not very painful. I didn't know what to do. I had to be at work the next day, so I thought I should at least get checked out.

My younger sister Julie, flew in to stay with me for a few weeks (by this time my entire family had moved out of state) I was so glad she was here to help out.

My hubby and I headed out to the hospital. I was admitted into triage, and the nurse checked me, she said I was 3 cm dilated, she suggested that me and hubby walk around and she will check me in one hour, if I progressed, they will admit me. If not, then I will need to go home.

I love hearing and reading birth stories. Especially now! I have been reading birth stories for the past three days! It made me regret that I never wrote down my babies birth stories, I figured I should do it now, better late then never. Off course, I don't remember every little detail any more, but there are parts I will never forget, and are stuck in my head even 6 years later!

With my first pregnancy, I was 21 years old and feel that my preganncy was fairly normal.

I had morning sickness until around 13 weeks. I was told I had gestational diabetes. I was shocked, I felt healthy, I was 125 pounds (5ft 6inch) but now thinking back, I really did not eat healthy, I had pop all day long, my snacks consisted of candy and sugary cereal. My meals were usually burgers and greasy fries. Tsk tsk.
I then went to a nutritionist and was put on a low carb diet. I was hungry my whole third trimester. My breakfast usually consisted of a half a english muffin with peanut butter and 1/2 a banana, my lunch consisted of 1/2 turkey sandwich, mini carrots and a jello, and my dinner was somewhere near the same. I had to write down my blood sugar level after each meal and write down everything I ate. Then my OB would look through it at my next appointment. My OB told me that if I was not able to control my blood sugar with a diet, then I would need to administer insulin.

What does one do when they have a whole bunch of zucchini and summer squash in their vegetable garden. I say make Russian Zucchini Spread! It is such a easy and simple dish to create. I love eating this in a sandwich for lunch or with some fresh bread and hot soup for dinner.

Ingredients:

4-6 regular Zucchini (since mine were HUGE, I used one Large zucchini and one large summer squash) (peeled and chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

2 bell peppers (red and yellow) (chopped)

3 carrots (shredded)

4 garlic cloves (minces)

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil

In a large skillet, saute bell peppers, onions and carrots in 2 TB of veg oil, until soft and cooked through. Once cooked, place aside in a bowl.

When I make these chicken wings, my hubby gets so excited! He can eat the entire platter himself! Seriously, what is it with guys and chicken wings?

This is a favorite recipe, I love the sweet and simple barbecue sauce.

2 cups ketchup

1 cup of brown sugar

2 TB worcestershire sauce

2 TB apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

2-3 lbs of chicken wings

In a medium bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce and vinegar; season with with salt and pepper, reserve half of the sauce in a small bowl, leave the remaining sauce in the medium sized bowl.

Preheat oven 450 degrees, line a large sheet with foil for easy clean up.

Toss the clean and washed chicken wings in the medium bowl with half of the sauce.

Bake chicken for about 30-35 minutes.

Flip all the wings over and brush with the remaining sauce. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.

I don't know if you have noticed, but I haven't posted any new recipes in a long time. I blame the morning sickness (all day long). But now that I am actually starting to enjoy food again, I have had a particular craving: butternut squash ravioli, in fact that is all I wanted on Sunday. I tried to find a restaurant near us, In fact I checked all 4 Italian restaurants in the area. None of them had any on the menu! I knew a place in a near by city, but didn't want to drive 45 minutes for dinner.

So I went and bought some butternut squash and decided to try and make something with pasta.

This is so easy, you roast the squash, cook pasta and brown some butter with sage.

So easy and so delicious!!

1 Butternut squash

1 large onion

salt/pepper

olive oil

Pasta (I used farfalle) but any pasta would work

4 TB salted butter

Sage leaves

2 garlic cloves

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Peel and scoop out the seeds of the squash. Cube and put in a large bowl.